Rees-Mogg will no doubt be needing Guido’s guide to Westminster’s social scene unlocking roadmap…
While Change UK’s former MPs have reformed to write a book, another familiar defecting face is also on a comeback mission: Dr Phillip Lee. The one-time wannabe leader of the Conservative Party stood against, and lost to, John Redwood in 2019. Lee is now putting himself forward to be the LibDem’s candidate in the forthcoming Chesham and Amersham by-election.
His election document claims he’s “someone with a political reputation for integrity, ready to take on the incompetent and corrupt current Tory government”. Try reading that with a serious face…
Given HS2 will undoubtedly be a major issue in the by-election, Lee vaguely claims he has “long criticised HS2”, failing to specify to the local party membership that as an MP he voted for, or abstained on, a majority of the train line’s legislation, in stark contrast to Cheryl Gillan’s sustained opposition. Guido’s still not sure Lee’s got the hang of being a LibDem yet, given he claims “winning means talking about the value of competence and integrity in government”…
Read his leaflet in full below:
Over 60% of Ursula von Der Leyen’s official meetings held with non-politicians over the last two years have been with corporate lobbyists, new data reveals. In research produced by Integrity Watch, of the 7,093 European commissioner meetings held since 2019, 4,376 were with corporate interests, with the European Commission (EC) striking eye-watering deals with the ‘Big Four‘ accountancy firms – as well as Accenture and McKinsey – to the tune of €461 million. All in a day’s work for Brussels, obviously…
The European Parliament has now announced it will launch a probe into the ties between the Commission and its corporate interests, which Guido is sure will be rigorous and consequential. Lobbyists have camped in Brussels for over 50 years – corporate interests designed the EU’s regulatory regime – so don’t expect much to change now.
Giving evidence to parliament’s Constitution and Public Affairs Select Committee, Eric Pickles claimed he has been warning ministers and the government about the potential for a scandal involving lobbying and corporate appointments within the civil service for some time, however he didn’t expect it to arise from so high up within Whitehall.
“I have been warning about the possibility of a scandal with regard to this for some time. If I’m being absolutely candid with you, this is not where I expected it to come from.”
Pressed on this, Pickles claims he believed the scandal would come from lower down in the civil service, with 34,000 civil servants leaving in 2020, just 108 of whom were then investigated by ACOBA when taking up new jobs. Pickles is calling for immediate changes, regardless of the No. 10 inquiry:
There was one moment of light-heartedness, however, as Pickles’ computer took to accidentally answering questions for him…
The numbers tell the story about vaccine efficacy, with nearly two-thirds of British adults vaccinated the herd immunity effect will come into play soon. The vaccine effort shows how much more agile a nation state can be in comparison to a supra-national consensus constrained bloc. Some hardcore Remainers seem almost angry with the practical demonstration of this that has been provided. No doubt the lesson learned in Brussels and Berlin will be that “more Europe” is needed, or rather more leadership from Berlin and fewer consensus constraints. Smaller EU countries’ interests will be ignored because of the need to “streamline decision making”.
As the Cameron-Greensill lobbying drama continues to unfold, a new poll from YouGov shows that 24% of the public are already either paying attention to the issue or following it very closely. Given this story is barely a week old, Guido reckons these are telling numbers. Half the public are not aware or not following the story – yet. A lobbying scandal involving a few faceless civil servants won’t get much attention; a scandal involving David Cameron might…
With Cameron set to provide evidence to MPs at select committee hearings, more eyes will turn to this story in the next few weeks – especially if Rishi Sunak is called up as well, now that Mel Stride’s Treasury committee is also leading an investigation. It’s no wonder Boris wants the Boardman inquiry wrapped up “quickly”, this could turn into a bit of a headache for Number 10…
